cannabisnews.com: A Weed By Any Other Name Smells The Same





A Weed By Any Other Name Smells The Same
Posted by CN Staff on December 15, 2002 at 14:06:37 PT
By Jim McDonough 
Source: Christian Science Monitor 
Big excitement has hit the drug legalization world. A recent RAND Drug Policy Research Center study reported that marijuana may look, act, and smell like a gateway drug to abuse of harder drugs, but that possibly it is not a gateway drug after all. The marijuana normalizers - as in, "let's make marijuana use normal, or acceptable" - loved it; so did some of the press. Both were quick to misportray the study, so much so that the author of the study himself was dismayed.
Andrew Morral of RAND believes he did everything he could to explain he did not disprove the gateway theory but, as he told me, "The story about it misrepresented both our findings and my comments about the relevance of our findings to US drug policy. RAND and I have taken pains to emphasize that we do not believe we have disproved the gateway theory."The study did say that a high incidence of progression from marijuana to heroin and cocaine use is apparent; that the younger you are when you start using marijuana, the more likely you are to end up using cocaine and heroin; that the more often you use marijuana, the more likely you will use cocaine and heroin.In short, the study shows the correlation between marijuana and other drug abuse to be high.Indeed, the study accepts previous studies that have demonstrated the probability that heroin and cocaine use increases 85 times for marijuana users when compared with those who are not marijuana users; that early teen use of marijuana is even more highly correlated with other drug use than late teen marijuana use; and that the more puffs of marijuana you take, the more likely you move on to injections and snorting of even more dangerous drugs.But here's where the misunderstanding begins. The study says that maybe these terrible things happen because the people who use all these nasty drugs do it because they have a propensity for drug use, and marijuana is the first illegal drug to present itself to the young.Dr. Morral calls that the "common factor" theory.In other words, all drug users like all drugs; marijuana just comes along first. He suggests that this theory might be more accurate than the gateway theory.But is a gateway not a gateway because it happens to present itself in front of where you want to go?Perhaps this study's findings appear trivial. They aren't. If marijuana is merely the door through which those inclined to use drugs pass because it is convenient, all the more reason to keep that door locked.I'm convinced that's the best way to view Morrall's findings, because the pro-marijuana lobby and much of what the press missed in this study, as well as other careful studies, were findings that suggest:• There is a strong correlation between marijuana and other drug abuse, with marijuana almost always occurring first.• Marijuana, all by itself, is a dangerous drug.• There is a strong correlation between marijuana use and schizophrenia.• Marijuana itself is addictive.• Youth marijuana use correlates highly with violence, truancy, and other behavioral problems.• The younger the marijuana user, the more psychological and physiological damage done, and the more likely that other drugs will follow.• Smoking three marijuana joints a day can cause the equivalent respiratory damage associated with 20 cigarettes a day. Marijuana smokers show significantly more respiratory symptoms than people who don't smoke it.• Prolonged use can cause attention deficit and deterioration in memory.Over the years, I have talked with hundreds of addicts and treatment counselors. They say that marijuana was virtually always the beginning of a long, ugly journey; that marijuana is the most insidious of the illegal drugs because of the seductive, but often wrong, rationale that you can quit any time you want; that easy access to marijuana is a major part of the problem; and that their lives would have been far better if marijuana had been out of the picture.As we do more studies, we might turn to these people for insight.So what of the utility of the "common factor" theory over the "gateway" theory? A weed by any other name still smells the same.• Jim McDonough is director of the Florida Office of Drug Control. He previously served as director of strategic planning at the Office of National Drug Control Policy.Source: Christian Science Monitor (US)Author: Jim McDonough Published: December 16, 2002 EditionCopyright: 2002 The Christian Science Publishing SocietyContact: oped csps.comWebsite: http://www.csmonitor.com/Related Articles & Web Site:RAND http://www.rand.org/ Study Says Marijuana Does Not Lead To Drugs http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14880.shtmlMarijuana No Gateway To Cocaine and Heroinhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14879.shtmlStudy Finds No Cannabis Link To Hard Drugs http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11595.shtml 
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #8 posted by The GCW on December 16, 2002 at 06:33:55 PT
JR Bob Dobbs and all Green Collar Workers,
Do try to send and get printed the LTE's of Your mind...Realize there is also good to be done to even send the LTE's that You think will not get published, because they do get the point accross to the editor type, who is perhaps influenced to print more stuff about cannabis...Also, sometimes when I have something too long or full of too much info for them to publish, I can look up the papers whole editorial staff and E -mail all of them My thoughts. It then gets the info onto the minds of many, and keeps it fresh...Best is to get them published but don't underestemate the power of influence otherwise.I've even then had some published that I was unprepared for...Fellow Green Collar Worker, on guard.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #7 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on December 16, 2002 at 04:36:42 PT
Well Said!
Joe M., if you haven't taken those comments and sent them to oped csps.com yet, may I request that you do so? That's exactly the kind of thing they need to hear after running a story like this one. I tried to compose a letter re: this one last night, but there are so many lies and half-truths in the article to rebut that I couldn't form a nice concise LTE which had a chance of being printed. Of course, this is the CSM, and they don't print drug-law LTEs as often as other papers (I count four since 10/1/02 if you count a two-parter as two). But since you've already got it written, forwarding it to them would be simple and brief. And then you can keep an eye out for it here:
Mapinc's LTE archive
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by BGreen on December 16, 2002 at 02:46:52 PT
This Is From Newsweek Magazine
It's an interview with the author of a book called "Down by the River," a story about the "1995 shotgun murder of Bruno Jordan, the younger brother of Patrick Jordan, one of the DEA’s rising stars."This is the very last paragraph of the article which is very enlightening, especially the last three sentences:Did this book change your views about the war on drugs?The book takes no position. Partially that’s out of good manners--I’m not going to use Bruno Jordan’s body as a pulpit. But interdiction is a failure. What we’ve accomplished during the last 30 years is to make every drug more available and cheaper. Now, Phil Jordan still believes in what we call the war on drugs. And he’s a friend of mine; I just think the game isn’t worth the candle. And I also think we’re helping to destroy Mexico by creating a huge new power base that’s an enemy of civil society. It’s hard to find a good argument against legalization. Besides, we’re a drug nation anyway. There are drug trades advertised on TV every night. And, let’s be real, if there’s a dangerous drug in our society, it’s alcohol. We don’t have shelters full of battered women because of illegal drugs. There’s no woman with a black eye because her old man had a joint on Saturday night.
Drug Nation
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by knox42897 on December 15, 2002 at 20:50:55 PT:
Theory is stupid as stupid is
In other words, all drug users like all drugs; marijuana just comes along first. He suggests that this theory might be more accurate than the gateway theory.Alcohol and tobacco came before marijuana. Also I do not like crank or heroin or those "legal" drugs that Noella loves. A better theory would be, all humans like drugs, but not all drugs. Naturally, humans will want to experiment with different drugs until they find the right one for them or the right combination. Some people might be satisfied with caffine, tobacco or alcohol, while a more intellegentlly sophisticated wholesome human being would be a Cannabis Counassiour and might even have a taste for Columbian Medical Cocaine. So all the WoD is doing is trying to stop a naturally occuring human instinct.Further more, the WoD is supported by inferior drug deprived humans, who have suppressed there natural instincts that they become paranoid schizophrenics. More for Walters to be paranoid about. Apperently there is a group of "Masters of Criminal Activity", who are planning to give, not sell, marijuana to his children with hopes of addicting them and then pimping them out for an escort service that caters only to mexicans and negros. Also, its rummered that these same "Masters of Criminal Activity" are trying to photograph Jeanna, her sister and cousin for a wild pornographic sex video, entitled, Show US your Bush!LAS VEGAS NEVADANS FOR RESPOSIBLE LAW ENFORCEMENT
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by BGreen on December 15, 2002 at 20:30:00 PT
Very Well Stated, joe minella
I AM the successful pot-smoking musician and my best friend since high school is a successful pot-smoking doctor, and we agree wholeheartedly with you.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by joe minella on December 15, 2002 at 20:18:02 PT:
marijuana
An estimated 90 million Americans have at least tried marijuana over the last
35 years or so, and many of them continue to enjoy pot on a regular, 
irregular, or casual basis. Where are the casualties?
 Where are the birth defects?
 Where are the male breasts?
 Where are the fried-egg brains?
 Where are the amputated limbs from "circulation problems"?
 Where are the shuffling legions of demotivated pot-slaves?
 Where are the pitiful addicts, searching for roaches in the gutter,
 or slumped in doorways? 
 Where is the spike in lung, and other, cancers?
 Where are the armies of the memoryless, the unemployable, the lost?
 And, finally, an answerable question: 
 Where are the pot-smoking doctors, lawyers, programmers, builders,
 businessmen, teachers, scientists, musicians, politicians, writers,
 pastors, judges, policemen, mechanics? Answer: They are right in front of you,
doing their jobs, loving their families, indistinguishable from the rest of us solely on the 
basis of their chosen relaxant. The real irony, and tragedy, is that drug warriors, by so blindly and energetically
insisting on counterproductive prohibition policies, are responsible for more
family pathology, more ruined lives, more violence, more corruption, even more trafficking (the "inexorable logic" of the illegal marketplace), and for the continuing impoverishment of Americans,
than any "demon drug" ever could be responsible for.
  I don't believe it makes sense to ruin someone's
life for marijuana. I don't care if it's a hundred pounds or a thousand
pounds. The only way a thousand pounds of pot is going to do any
serious harm, is if you drop it on someone. To sentence someone to 10 or 20 years
of a living death for a non-violent marijuana offense is beyond
cruel and unusual. It is inhuman, and un-christian, and immoral. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by aocp on December 15, 2002 at 14:39:58 PT
oops
i meant "People can claim that anything that came before something else is the latter's cause."
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by aocp on December 15, 2002 at 14:38:15 PT
who buys this merde?
But is a gateway not a gateway because it happens to present itself in front of where you want to go?Uhhh, no, jackboot. You really want to open that Pandora's box? People can claim that anything came before something else is the former's cause. Ridiculous. I pledge allegiance ... to stay away from heroin BECAUSE cannabis was not a gateway to my having anything to do with it, dammit. Garbage in, garbage out! (jeb shrub's mantra)
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment